Sunday, December 23, 2018

Baltic Christmas Day 23 - Kalėdinė and the Magic Harmonica

The time surrounding the winter
solstice is magical for the Balts; it was thought that on Ziemassvētki the animals could talk, and unexplainable things
happen during the night. For example, in the Latvian Christmas story by Margarita Stāraste Barvika, everyday kitchen objects get a life of their own – the night
holds a magic all its own. On the series a few years ago, Barbara Tedrow
described her family’s Kūčios
traditions, including reading Kalėdinė
and the Magic Harmonica by Aloyzas Baronas.

“My
granddaughter Sophie snapped me out of my daydream. ‘Ouma, I’m ready for our
reader’s theatre after dinner,’ Sophie whispered… Kalėdinė and the Magic
Harmonica by Aloyzas Baronas was new to her. In the story, Kūčios was so
special that at midnight the animals could talk. Sophie was doing her best to
be patient, but the dinner celebration on the longest night of the year was
turning into a personal endurance test…”

Today on 24 Days of a Baltic
Christmas we are joined by J. Daugirdas of Draugas
News. Havingreceived a request
for stories to read to children about the magic of the season, they published
the short story written by Aloyzas Baronas, Kalėdinė
armonika, along with a translation. Thank you to Draugas News for permission to publish an excerpt of the Christmas
Harmonica!

A HARMONICA FOR CHRISTMAS

Aloyzas
Baronas

Translated
by J. Daugirdas

These
events took place back in Lithuania. Kaziukas was small then and was not yet of
school age. He would spend his days playing with his younger sister Elenutė.
Some time before Christmas, Kaziukas’ Auntie brought him a gift – a beautiful
ball painted with red and green flowers. Auntie warned him, “Kaziuk, you tend
to lose your toys. If you manage to not lose this ball that I’m giving you, and
don’t puncture or otherwise wreck it, for Christmas I’ll buy you a harmonica.
“A real harmonica?” asked Kaziukas. “Yes, indeed,” replied his aunt, “A genuine
harmonica, but a smaller one, just your size.”

Kaziukas
promised to be good. He obeyed his parents, avoided teasing his sister Elenutė,
did not throw any rocks at the rooster, did not pull the cat by its ears,
didn’t ride the family dog Margis like a horse, and in general was on his best
behavior, as he really needed this harmonica.

But
then, just before Christmas, Kaziukas noticed that his ball was gone! He had
actually grown tired of playing with the ball, and so it was only just before
the holidays that he thought about it. He searched under all the beds and in
all the nooks and crannies, but the ball was nowhere to be found! Kaziukas was
in a panic. What would happen if Auntie found out that the gifted ball was no
more? His Christmas harmonica would never be bought!

Still
worrying about his ball, Kaziukas realized that it was Christmas Eve. Everyone
was preparing for Christmas, but Kaziukas could focus on only one thought: now
he might not be getting his harmonica, if Auntie found out that Kaziukas indeed
did not take good care of his presents and toys.

On
the day before Christmas, Auntie, speaking with Mom and Dad said, “Tonight,
don’t forget to listen to what our horse will say, for on the night before
Christmas all animals gain the gift of speech.” Mother said, “You’re joking, of
course – I’ve never heard our animals talk!” Auntie was unfazed: “You didn’t
hear them because you never listened. They do indeed talk.” “Tonight you’ll be
able to listen to them,” smiled Father. “Then you’ll know for sure.”

Everyone
laughed, while Kaziukas thought that maybe it would be worthwhile to go to the
family dog Margis after nightfall and ask Margis if maybe he saw where his ball
was Margis runs around all over the place, knows a lot, and has a keen sense of
smell.

But
to get out of bed in the deep of the night – is cold and frightening. Or maybe
the cat would talk to him this night? The cat is always lolling about in the
kitchen. But who would the cat talk to, as it spends most of its time alone?
Although – perhaps the cat could speak to itself, like Auntie sometimes talks
to herself? And is a cat an animal? Kaziukas’ mind was going ’round and ’round
on this, and finally, he asked his mother, who was busily working around the
stove. “Mom, is our cat an animal?” Mother answered while putting something
into the oven, “What are you asking? Of course a cat is an animal. A small one,
but an animal, nonetheless.”

After
the Christmas Eve repast, everyone went to sleep except Kaziukas, who listened
and listened. He waited until the clock struck the hour 12 times and then
silently, he left his bed. The cold air doused him as if it were water, but on
tiptoe he reached the kitchen. Next to the stove gleamed the green eyes of his
cat. It appeared that the cat had been awakened by Kaziukas’ steps. Quietly,
Kaziukas bent down and whispered directly into the cat’s ear, “Hey, cat, did
you see where my ball went?” But the cat was frightened by Kaziukas’ unexpected
moves. It jumped up and swatted Kaziukas’ on the cheek with its paw. Kaziukas
jumped back, rubbing his face, which now was quite sore. Kaziukas tapped the
cat on the head and, with a stinging nose, went back to bed. Kaziukas couldn’t
fall asleep for quite some time. He was thinking: “I doubt that the cat
scratched me deeply. Maybe tomorrow there won’t be any mark.”…

For the full translation, as well as the original Lithuanian tale, please see
the Draugas News article, Aloyzas Baronas and the Christmas harmonica tale. DRAUGAS
(Friend) is a Lithuanian newspaper published in the United States since July
12, 1909, and is the oldest continuously published Lithuanian newspaper anywhere
in the world. To learn more, please visit their website; you can find Draugason facebook here.

Draugas
News has also
published an index of the 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas, with all five years of
the series including titles and links to each article, listed by year. You can
find the index here: Femme au Foyer – 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas.

As our countdown to Christmas
draws to a close, we invite you to join us tomorrow on 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas
for one final day of celebration!